Oilers at Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers are trending in the right direction as each own a two-game winning streak entering their contest in Denver on Wednesday. Colorado completed a 2-1-0 road trip Monday with a 3-2 overtime victory over Columbus, snapping the Blue Jackets' club-record seven-game winning streak at home, while Edmonton crushed Western Conference-leading Chicago 5-0 on Monday.
At the heart of the Oilers' revival - long and short term - is captain Connor McDavid, who snapped a career-long 11-game goalless drought with a hat trick in Edmonton's 5-2 victory in Dallas on Saturday and followed that with a pair of assists Monday. "(The Blackhawks have) been playing really well and for us to get a win like that is definitely big for the confidence moving forward," McDavid told reporters. "We've been able to snap out of a bit of a funk and we're looking to go on a run now. Once you get out of one of those, it is important you take off from there." Colorado's Matt Duchene made a triumphant return Monday after missing four games with a concussion, scoring the game-winner and providing another jolt to the Avalanche's struggling offense. Colorado's 39 goals were the third-fewest in the NHL through Monday's games, but Nathan MacKinnon has two tallies and three assists in his last five games after recording a goal and an assist in the eight previous November contests.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet West (Edmonton), Altitude 2 (Colorado)
ABOUT THE OILERS (11-8-1): As McDavid (team bests of six goals and 18 assists) continues to rediscover his scoring touch, Leon Draisaitl scored twice Monday and has three tallies during a four-game point streak in which he's amassed six. Edmonton needs more from Milan Lucic, who's scored once in 11 November games, while fellow hulking left winger Patrick Maroon hasn't scored in his last five contests after tallying four times in his first six games of the month. Goaltender Cam Talbot (10-7-1, .920 save percentage, 2.47 goals-against average) continues to carry the load and is expected to start Wednesday.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (9-9-0): Captain Gabe Landeskog missed the three-game road trip with a lower-body injury and it appears he won't play Wednesday as the team tweeted: "(The training staff is) hoping he could skate (Wednesday).'' Defenseman Erik Johnson had a monster game Monday with his first goal of the season, his team-leading ninth assist, five shots and seven blocks. Defenseman Tyson Barrie, who recorded 13, 12 and 13 goals in the past three campaigns, scored his second of the season Monday and owns a club-worst minus-6 rating along with fellow blue liner Nikita Zadorov.
OVERTIME
1. The Oilers were 0-for-15 on the power play in their previous six games before converting twice in four chances against Chicago.
2. The Avalanche have won seven straight Wednesday games while the Oilers won their last six such contests.
3. Colorado swept last season's three-game series and won six of the last eight meetings.